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2011 California Grantee Abstracts

Grantee Name:Oakland Unified School District
Project Name:Teach Tomorrow in Oakland: Project STEM
Project Director:Rachelle Rogers-Ard  510-336-1529
Partner Districts/LEAs:Oakland Unified School District

PROJECT ABSTRACT

Teach Tomorrow in Oakland is a collaborative, alternative certification process to aid in the transition to teaching of outstanding educators who, because of institutional barriers, require non-traditional routes to certification. Funded mainly by a Transition to Teaching grant, TTO has a demonstrated ability to recruit, prepare, place and retain local, diverse, permanent educators.

However, as district needs fluctuate, it is necessary to increase efforts in certain subject areas. Under TTO’s umbrella of services, PROJECT STEM will introduce two new partners, RT Fisher Educational Enterprises and Teach Bar, both Oakland-based organizations focused on preparing diverse educators to teach STEM disciplines through providing culturally-responsive teaching strategies and ensuring passage of the CSET, California’s subject-matter competency test.

Further unique to this effort is the element of re-purposing current TTO elementary school teachers and giving them the opportunity to add a supplemental math or science authorization to their existing credential. TTO’s current partners, Holy Names University and CSU East Bay are offering reduced tuition to ensure that candidates who were already enrolled in their credential programs can take an additional 9 units at a greatly reduced rate, pass the appropriate CSET, and receive an authorization to teach math or science.

PROEJCT STEM will recruit and comprehensively support 160 exemplary STEM teachers over five years, all of whom will be required to make a five-year commitment to teaching in OUSD. All participants will be required to attend monthly professional development support around culturally responsive math/science teaching methods designed to increase student and teacher retention.


Grantee Name:California State University, Fullerton
Project Name:Autism, Inclusion, Math and Science (AIMS) Program
Project Director:Belinda Karge   657-278-3760
Partner Districts/LEAs: Alhambra Unified School District, Anaheim Elementary Azusa Unified, Baldwin Park Unified, Magnolia Elementary, Mountain View Elementary, Ocean View Elementary, Ontario Montclair Elementary, Pomona Unified, Santa Ana Unified

PROJECT ABSTRACT

AIMS (Autism, Inclusion, Mathematics Core and Science Innovation) Scholar program is a collaborative between CSU Fullerton and a cluster of Local Education Agencies (LEA) in Southern California. The purpose of AIMS is to train highly qualified teachers from under represented ethic groups in the high need areas of math, science and special education. AIMS will enhance alternative routes to teacher certification to recruit, select, prepare, and support talented individuals to become highly-qualified teachers. AIMS will provide extra resources in the areas of autism, inclusive practices, math core standards and science innovation. Teacher candidates will receive focused professional development to use research based effective teaching strategies and to collect data based outcome to assess and support teaching and learning. Thirty participants will be recruited in each of years one through three, for a total of 90 participants. AIMS will use innovative strategies to recruit and then retain participants from mid-career professionals, recent college graduates and/or paraprofessionals. The AIMS program will recruit participants into California State University, Fullerton’s Alternative Certification, (Intern) program using the existing infra structure and teaming with high need LEA’s and the teacher preparation programs that support them to recruit teachers in math, science and special education.


Grantee Name:Holy Names University
Project Name:Autism, Inclusion, Math and Science (AIMS) Program
Project Director:Julie Henderson  510-436-1022
Partner Districts/LEAs: Oakland Unified School, West Contra Costa Unified Schools, Hayward Unified Schools

PROJECT ABSTRACT

Holy Names University envisions a teacher education program that implements the coherent visions of teaching and learning it shares with its LEA partners, one that integrates clinical work with coursework seamlessly so that the two mutually reinforce and reflect the common standards of professional practice that ensures every K‐12 student receives a world‐class education. To realize this vision, we propose an undergraduate‐graduate residency (apprenticeship) and internship program based on professional teaching standards and informed by research of effective practice. We are committed to supporting our novice teachers from the beginning of their coursework thro ugh the second year of their induction.


Grantee Name:University of San Francisco
Project Name:The San Francisco Teacher Residency (SFTR)
Project Director:Peter Williamson  415-422-2308
Partner Districts/LEAs: District San Francisco Unified School District

PROJECT ABSTRACT

The San Francisco Teacher Residency (SFTR) aims to recruit, prepare, and retain teachers, who are able to improve equity and achievement for historically underserved students in San Francisco’s highest-needs schools in the high needs subject areas of math, science and bilingual Spanish. SFTR provides a rigorous yet expedited route into the classroom for highly qualified individuals, and focuses recruitment on mid-career professionals, including highly qualified paraprofessionals and talented college graduates. The program builds upon models of successful urban residencies in other cities. SFTR is a unique partnership between the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), the University of San Francisco (USF), the Stanford University Teacher Education Program (STEP), the United Educators of San Francisco (UESF), and the San Francisco Education Fund (SF Ed Fund). Our partnership is special in that it draws upon the strengths of the various partners: SFUSD’s vital commitment to narrowing the equity and achievement and gap; USF’s connections with local schools and curricula; STEP’s proven teacher preparation model involving intensive, year-long clinical experiences with highly structured supervision; the UESF’s strong presence in San Francisco’s schools and its understanding of teachers’ needs; and the SF Ed Fund’s history of garnering resources and brokering relationships in support of San Francisco’s public schools. Across partner institutions, the rigorous Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT) is used to evaluate teacher practice while providing educators with frameworks and common language for giving feedback to new teachers from their pre-service year through induction and beyond. As in other urban residency models, SFTR integrates masters’ level coursework with a year-long apprenticeship under the guidance of highly skilled demonstration teachers. Cohorts of candidates known are residents are placed in targeted, well-supported Teaching Academies. A specially designed SFTR seminar that is context-specific to SFUSD is a core component of the credentialing coursework. In return for financial support for the credential and MA program, residents commit to teaching in San Francisco for a minimum of three years.

Summary of goals and expected outcomes for the program:

  1. Recruitment and preparation of 150 highly skilled candidates for SFUSD’s hard-to staff subjects of math, science and other district identified high-need subject areas over the course of five years (30 candidates a year for 5 years);
  2. Increased retention in SFUSD’s high needs schools and subjects;
  3. Development of professional development schools, known as Teaching Academies – as models of good teaching in SFUSD;
  4. Development of new career pathways for effective teachers;
  5. Development of teacher education curriculum that is more responsive to the needs of urban educators in SFUSD.


Grantee Name:California State University, Dominguez Hills
Project Name:California State University, Dominguez Hills Transition to Teaching Project
Project Director:Kamal Hamdan   310-243-3981
Partner Districts/LEAs: Los Angeles Unified, Dinuba Unified, Exeter Union HS District, Farmersville Unified, Lindsay Unified, Porterville Unified, Tulare Joint Union HS District, Visalia Unified, Woodlake Union High School District, Corcoran Joint Unified, Hanford Joint Union High School, Reef-Sunset Unified, Los Banos Unified, Heber Elementary District Central Union HS District

PROJECT ABSTRACT

LEAsLos Angeles Unified; San Joaquin Valley: Dinuba Unified, Exeter Union HS District, Farmersville Unified, Lindsay Unified, Porterville Unified, Tulare Joint Union HS District, Visalia Unified, Woodlake Union HS District, Corcoran Joint Unified, Hanford Joint Union HS, Reef-Sunset Unified, Los Banos Unified; Imperial Valley: Heber Elementary District, Central Union HS District.

Other Parners:CalState TEACH and Tulare County Office of Education.

Goal: Develop and implement an innovative model to recruit, prepare, support and retain highly qualified middle and high school math and science teachers who will work in high-need urban and rural districts in California.

Outcomes:Enroll 225. 95% earn preliminary credential. Place 95% in high-need schools. 90% earn full credential and teach for 3 years. At least 25% placed in rural schools. Participant goal: 225 for project. Yr 1 = 25, Yr 2 = 50, Yr 3 = 75, Yr 4 = 75

Type of Participant:Mid-career professional and recent college graduate.

High-need subjects:Math and science in secondary schools

Activities:Participants will be recruited from three regions of California: urban Los Angeles (Yrs. 1-4), rural San Joaquin Valley (Yrs. 2-4 ), and rural Imperial Valley (Yrs. 3-4). The 1-year accelerated program will use an innovative, online spiraling curriculum that is taken in modules rather than disconnected courses. The spiral design gives continuing exposure to teaching topics, each time at a higher level and in greater depth. Modules will be well-integrated with extensive fieldwork conducted in regional Saturday lab schools with students at varying proficiency. In lab schools, participants will be in instructional teams with a mentor teacher, university instructor and novice teachers. Teams will deliver and observe a lesson, reflect, assess, modify and reteach. After spring and summer semesters, participants will become university intern teachers in high-need schools and complete their preliminary credential in fall semester, with coaching from TTT for the first year. They will enter districts’ two-year induction programs to compete their full credential in 2 years.

Special features:First online single-subject credential program in state. Participants can work while taking online courses and lab school. Program serves urban and rural districts and has the potential for statewide replication.


 
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Last Modified: 10/03/2011